The Final Moments of the Greatest Human | Session 2

The Final Moments of the Greatest Human — Session 2

And guys, can we at least acknowledge how well he plays dress right now. Give him a round of applause, man. I feel like I'm underdressed. I feel like they're insecure right now. But alhamdulillah, it's a great evening, a lot of energy here. Did you guys bring the other new faces here from yesterday? Can we get some hands here — who wasn't here yesterday? So we did bring some new people, give them a round of applause. Let's welcome them to the Ummah.

Continuing the Journey of the Final Moments

As we're continuing on this journey of the final moments, one of the most challenging but also important final moments throughout the history of time has been the final moments of the Prophet's صلى الله عليه وسلم life. There were the final moments of his life in this world, and there were the first moments of his life in the hereafter. A lot of times we believe that the ending is the ending, but the Prophet leaving this world was a reminder that the ending is just a gateway to a new beginning. And the new beginning is an extension of what we do in this world, because this is the world of Darul 'Amal — that we make an effort, we put our seeds in the earth, and we try our best to water them the best we can.

So the final moments of the Prophet's life صلى الله عليه وسلم — through which you will also be able to understand and hopefully connect — is that there will also be final moments of our lives. And how can we prepare for our final moments as the Prophet of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم prepared for his?

So next to me are two beautiful mashāyikh who are Seerah experts. Has anyone attended the Seerah Intensive with Sheikh Abdullah? So a lot of you have heard of it. If you've heard of it now, you have to attend it. But the beauty of the Seerah Intensive is you go through the entire life of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, but everyone knows the highlight is the last day — which is quite ironic, because the last day is the day where the Prophet leaves this world, but most people feel most attached to that last day. And inshallah today we'll speak about why that's the case.

So I'm here with Sheikh Abdullah and Sheikh Muslim. They can both speak about what stands out to them in the final moments of the Prophet's life. Now the final moments can be the last month, the last interaction with his family, the last ten days, and of course the last day and the last interaction that he had with the companions, رضي الله عنهم.

Bismillah. Assalamu 'alaykum.

Our Special Attachment to the Prophet

You know, we have this special attachment to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. Every time we hear his name, inshallah, we say salawat upon the Prophet:

The Farewell of Mu'adh ibn Jabal

One of the most emotional and difficult hadith that I quote, and I listen to, and I read, is the hadith of Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم when he is farewelling Mu'adh ibn Jabal to Yemen. This is one of the first hints of the Prophet's صلى الله عليه وسلم last stay in this world — a year before the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم left this world.

He was dispatching Mu'adh ibn Jabal to Yemen, and he was going to be the teacher and bring the message of Islam and the deen to the people of Yemen. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was so excited when the people of Yemen accepted Islam. Because the first person that went there was Khalid ibn al-Walid and he struggled, and then Ali and other sahaba went, and the first tribe in Yemen that accepted Islam was Hamdan.

So when the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم heard that the first community in Yemen had accepted Islam, he stood up and he did sajda shukr. He said: الحمد لله، أسلمَ هَمدان — he was so happy. And then the message had to be solidified in the community there, so he sent Mu'adh ibn Jabal.

And as he's walking Mu'adh ibn Jabal out of Medina — this is one of the last meetings of this companion with the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم — you could actually do a whole series on this: the last meetings of the companions, the last time they met him, the last thing he said to them, the last thing they saw from him. That's a whole series on its own. But this is one of those events.

If you have a look at the background of Mu'adh ibn Jabal, there are not many men from the community of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم to whom he said directly: "I love you." And the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said to Mu'adh ibn Jabal:

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 1522; also reported in Musnad Ahmad)

"By Allah, indeed I love you, O Mu'adh. Do not leave off saying after every prayer: O Allah, assist me in remembering You, being grateful to You, and worshipping You in the best manner."

So he taught Mu'adh ibn Jabal a prayer to be added at the conclusion of every prayer — in that final aspect of the prayer. Don't forget to read this prayer.

Then he says: "When you go to Yemen and you come back next year, you will not find me here."

"You will come back to Medina from Yemen. You will see my mosque, and you will see my grave."

Now, no one wants to hear news of anyone leaving this world — any news of a terminal illness, something that's going to cause them to leave this world. You feel the pain. It's a painful news. No one wants to hear of a tumor that's not curable, or some form of sickness that cannot be cured.

But Mu'adh ibn Jabal has been told this by the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم himself — and what happens to Mu'adh? Mu'adh رضي الله عنه starts to cry. He cries so much.

جَشَّ بِفِرَاقِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم، فَالْتَفَتَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم نَحْوَ الْمَدِينَةِ — so Mu'adh is facing south, towards Yemen, and the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم turns his face away, back towards Medina.

In the narration, there is no explicit mention of the Prophet crying. But this is my istinbāt — this is how I deduce it: the Prophet turning his face away from Mu'adh towards Medina is a sign that the Prophet was also crying. Because if you see a person crying and you're trying to calm them down, and you start to cry in front of them, it doesn't help the situation.

A Personal Reflection

And anyone that knows people who have suffered a form of tragedy — Mufti Abdul Wahab, if you know Mufti Abdul Wahab, all he does is cry. He cries almost every day because his younger brother — who is closer to him in age — passed away two years ago. He hears his name, he sees anything about him, he just cries.

I deal with trauma differently. I can't even see his picture — because if I see my brother's picture, I become emotional. He has it as a screensaver on his phone. That's how he deals with the pain. But I was told by family friends and community members: "Sheikh Abdullah, you're not allowed to cry in front of your siblings, because you're the eldest." So when they would cry, I would turn my face away — and actually sometimes I would say, "Hey guys..."